The Shannon hydroelectric Scheme was a major development by the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

in the 1920s to harness the power of the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Shan ...

. Its product, the Ardnacrusha power plant, is a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power station which is still producing power today and is located near

Ardnacrusha Ardnacrusha ( ga, Ard na Croise) is a village in County Clare, Munster, Ireland, located on the northern bank of the River Shannon. By road, it is north of Limerick. The name derives from the phrase ''Ard na Croise'' meaning "the height of t ...

within

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

approximately from the Limerick border. It is

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's largest river hydroelectric scheme and is operated on a purpose built headrace connected to the

. The plant includes fish ladders so that returning fish, such as

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

, can climb the river safely past the power station. Completed within 7 years of Irish independence in 1922 at a cost which was equivalent to one fifth of the Irish state's annual budget, the plant enabled an enormous surge in demand for electricity across the country and demonstrated the ability of the new government to develop during a difficult financial period. The plant was constructed by the German company

Siemens-Schuckert Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966. Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & Ha ...

, although much of the design was done by Irish engineers and Ireland provided most of the labour force. The scheme involved changes to the flow of the whole river, multiple dams and bridges and the construction of a national power grid. The generating plant at Ardnacrusha is composed of three vertical-shaft

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...

generators (commissioned in 1929) and one vertical-shaft

Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to ach ...

generator (commissioned in 1934) operating under an average head of 28.5 metres. The scheme originally was designed for six turbines, with four turbines fitted. The 85 MW of generating plant in Ardnacrusha was adequate to meet the electricity demand of the entire country in the early years. The full output equates to about 332,000 MWh generated on an annual basis. Ardnacrusha generates at 10.5 kilovolts (kV) but this is transformed to 38 kV for local distribution and to 110 kV for long distance transmission.

Background

The first plan to harness the Shannon's power between Lough Derg and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

was published in 1844 by Sir Robert Kane. Inspired by

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, "Frazer's Scheme" proposed a head-race canal ending at Doonass, and was sanctioned by the 1901 "Shannon Water and Electric Power Act". This envisaged a seasonal scheme with a back-up steam turbine to generate electricity in the summer, but the overall cost was considered too great and the Act was shelved. In 1902 SF Dick proposed a sharper fall at Doonass. The British Board of Trade appointed a committee in 1918 which approved proposals by Theodore Stevens and published a report in 1922. This envisaged altering upper lake levels to create extra storage of 10,000 million cubic feet, at a cost of £2.6m. Siemens-Bauunion plant and machinery being unloaded at Limerick docks for Shannon hydro-electric scheme

Siemens-Bauunion plant and machinery being unloaded at Limerick docks for Shannon hydro-electric scheme

At the end of 1923, the engineer Dr. Thomas McLaughlin approached the new

's Minister for Industry and Commerce Patrick McGilligan with a proposal for a much more ambitious project. Dr McLaughlin had started working for

, a large German engineering firm, in late 1922, and his scheme would exploit the full height difference between Lough Allen and the sea. He drew on the analysis of 25 years of flow at the weir at Killaloe published by John Chaloner Smith, an engineer with the Commissioners of Public Works. McGilligan was enthusiastic although

W. T. Cosgrave William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as the president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, leader of the Opposition in both the Free State and Ire ...

, the premier, was more cautious. The scheme was published by Siemens in September 1924 and the government appointed a team of experts from Norway and Switzerland to check its viability. It caused considerable political controversy as the cost of £5.2m was a large part of the new state's entire budget in 1925 of £25m and interests in Dublin preferred a more localised solution. But the experts supported the centralised solution which would require a distribution grid all over the country but recommended a two-stage implementation of the power generators. The government accepted this and by April 1925 had introduced the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 in the Dáil.

Construction

In 1925 Siemens started the works with Dr. McLaughlin as managing director and Prof.

Frank Sharman Rishworth Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

, who took a leave of absence from

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, as chief civil engineer. A completion time limit of three and a half years, with penalty clauses for failure of adherence to this limit, was written into the contract.The Engineers Journal, Engineers Ireland, Volume 58, November 2004 Around 150 of the skilled workers and engineers on the power station were Germans. A camp was set up for the workers that included living quarters for 750 men and a dining room that seated 600. Initially employment for 700 was provided, whilst at its peak there were 5,200 employed during the construction phase, with this dropping back to 2,500 near completion. Works Canteen (6498401777)

Siemens had to import a vast array of machinery from

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and built a 96 km narrow gauge railway from the docks in Limerick to the site to bring in supplies, which included 76 steam locomotives. The government made good the local roads which were in an appalling state. The headrace involved building embankments up to 25m high over a distance of 10 km and many unforeseen geological problems were encountered. of soil had to be moved and of rock. Four major bridges were built and nine rivers diverted as well as numerous streams. Three large

Parsons turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turb ...

s were installed at the base of the dam which could generate 35MW, more than the entire public supply of the time. In addition a supply network of 110kV power lines was installed to Dublin, Cork and other centres. The construction project was not without controversy. Unskilled labourers were only paid agricultural wages producing strikes, national and governmental debate over wages, conditions, and spending over-runs. Despite this, there was a final cost overrun for Siemens of £150,000. The site attracted a huge number of sightseers, transported by excursion trains from all parts of Ireland. By 1929 it reckoned that 250,000 spectators had been guided over the works. Ardnacrusha Power Station Construction

Ardnacrusha Power Station Construction - dam

Electrifying Ireland

In 1927, the ESB was established and took control of the scheme and electricity supply and generation generally. Dr. McLaughlin became the managing director. The Shannon Scheme was officially opened at

Parteen Parteen () is a village in County Clare, Ireland. It is situated in the townland of the same name that is part of the civil parish of St Patrick's. It is also part of an Ecclesiastical parish of "Parteen-Meelick" in the Roman Catholic Diocese o ...

on 22 July 1929. One of the largest engineering projects of its day, it served as a model for large-scale electrification projects worldwide. Operated by the

Electricity Supply Board The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ga, Bord Soláthair an Leictreachais) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company operating in the Republic of Ireland. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as ...

of Ireland, it had an immediate impact on the social, economic and industrial development of Ireland. By 1935, it was producing 80 per cent of Ireland's electricity. It continues to supply this power in the 21st century although its contribution is now only 2%. At the time, it was the largest hydroelectric station in the world, though this was soon superseded by the

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...

, which commenced construction in 1930. The influential London

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

was highly impressed with the result, commenting: :''They have thrown on their shoulders the not easy task of breaking what is in reality an enormous inferiority complex and the Shannon Scheme is one - and probably the most vital - of their methods of doing it.'' Within 3 years the demand for electricity in Ireland had expanded so much that stage 2 was initiated. Instead of the planned three extra penstocks, only one was used but it used a new 30 MW

with seven blades which produces high efficiency on the relatively small head and therefore increased the capacity of the station to 75 MW by 1933. In 1937 the

Poulaphouca Reservoir Poulaphouca Reservoir, officially Pollaphuca (), is an active reservoir (for both water supply and electricity generation) and area of wild bird conservation in west County Wicklow, Ireland named after the Poulaphouca waterfall on its south-west ...

hydro plant on the Liffey was constructed adding another 35 MW. In 2002, on the 75th anniversary of the plant, its historic status was recognised by the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

, in partnership with the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, who marked the facility as an Engineering Milestone of the 20th century. Ardnacrusha Power Station Construction - canal

Ardnacrusha Power Station Construction - tail race

Environmental consequences

The opening of the scheme had, and continues to have, a significant environmental effect on the part of the Shannon bypassed by the head-race canal, from Parteen Villa north of

O'Briens Bridge O'Brien's Bridge or O'Briensbridge () is a village in east County Clare, Ireland, on the west bank of the River Shannon, in a civil parish of the same name. It is named for the bridge across the Shannon at that point, built by Turlough O'Brien ...

to about a mile north of

city. This length of river, especially that running past

Castleconnell Castleconnell (, historically ''Caisleán Uí Chonaing'') is a village in County Limerick on the banks of the River Shannon. It is from Limerick city and near the boundaries of counties Clare and Tipperary. History The ruins of the ' Castle ...

and the

Falls of Doonass Falls may refer to: Places * Waterfalls or rapids * Falls, North Carolina, USA * Falls, West Virginia, USA Other uses * The ropes or wires, fed through davits, that are used to secure and lower a ship's lifeboats. * Falls (surname) * The sepa ...

was in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries world-famous for fishing, particularly

Salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

fishing. The diverting of water to the power station had a disastrous effect on this, for two main reasons: Initially, there was no fish pass at Ardnacrusha to allow the salmon to migrate further up the river; this was later rectified. Secondly, the reduction in water flow down the natural channel encouraged more fish to either migrate towards the head-race canal, or to the

Mulkear river The River Mulcair, or Mulkear, rises in the Slieve Felim Mountains and Silvermine Mountains in Ireland, and flows through the east of County Limerick before joining the River Shannon near Annacotty. It flows through Counties Limerick and Tipper ...

instead. The problem continues to this day, and the salmon fishing is no longer comparable with the period up to the 1920s, with stocks reduced by about 90%. The conservation status of the critically other species of native fish have also been hurt by the low water levels, such as the critically endangered eel.Are Ireland’s large hydroelectric schemes sustainable?
, ecofact.ie

Effects on the bypassed river channel

Reduction in water flow

Once opened, the great majority of the Shannon's water was diverted via the head-race canal to the power station. The ESB are required by law to allow 10 cubic meters per second (10 m³/s) to flow down the natural channel. This is roughly what the natural flow would be during dry summer periods prior to the weir being built. All surplus water can be diverted for power generation. The maximum capacity of Ardnacrusha is approximately 400 m³/s, 40 times that which is required to flow down the natural channel (although the power station does not necessarily run at this capacity at all times). For the first few years after the opening of the scheme, water was diverted to the power station only as necessary for the electricity demand at the time, and thus the impact on the river was not initially severe. However, as demand increased, more and more water was diverted, until eventually a situation was reached where, at all times, all available water was diverted for power generation, and the natural channel was permanently reduced to the minimum water flow allowed (except during extreme conditions). In exceptionally wet periods, the flow of water out of Lough Derg is greater than 400 m³/s, and it is then necessary for the surplus to be released down the natural channel through Castleconnell. During these brief periods, the Falls of Doonass are temporarily restored to their former glory. How often this occurs depends on seasonal weather patterns: some years there is no increase above the minimum flow at all. This has led to a substantially dried-up riverbed. The most obvious result on the river south of Parteen Villa always being kept at summer levels is the silting of many of the old salmon pools, and the growth of trees and bushes in many parts of the former riverbed, thus significantly altering both the appearance and ecosystem of the river. When built, Ardnacrusha had the capacity to supply power for the entire country. Currently, it accounts for around 2-3% of the ESB's overall power output.ESB Power stations output
, ESB Website Given the small overall amount of power produced per cubic meter, there is a substantial case for increasing water flow to the natural channel, now that Arnacrusha is producing so small a proportion of ESB's power. For example, increasing the flow of the river to 50 m³/s would reduce Ardnacrusha's capacity by 1/10 (flow reduced by 40 m³/s), or 8 megawatts; less than 0.3% of ESB's national capacity, whilst increasing the water flow to the natural channel 5-fold. This would have a major beneficial effect on the condition of the river south of O'Briens Bridge.

Navigation

The navigable section of water from the southern end of the Killaloe Canal to World's End, Castleconnell, was linked to Limerick via the lateral Plassey-Errina canal which had six locks. This became redundant with the construction of the new canal to Ardnacrusha, was dewatered and subsequently became derelict. Recently, several sections have been cleared, and it is now possible to walk from O'Briens Bridge to Errina lock along the old tow path. As there is no lock at Parteen weir linking the natural channel to Lough Derg, it is no longer possible for any watercraft to enter, by water, this part of the Shannon.The Shannon Navigation, Ruth Delany, 2007 Navigation of the Shannon is now by the head-race canal which is wide. When all turbines are operating, the speed of the water is which can be challenging in both directions. This leads to the double lock at Ardnacrusha, which will take boats long and wide. The two locks have a combined drop of up to .

Shannon Eel Management Programme

A trap and transport scheme is in force on the Shannon as part of an

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

management programme following the discovery of a reduced eel population. This scheme ensures safe passage for young eels past Ardnacrusha.

Effects upriver from the scheme

Flooding

The maximum capacity of Ardnacrusha is approximately 400 m³/s. As this is much greater than is available during summer months, during the early years of operation water was stored in the major lakes on the Shannon, Lough Derg, Lough Ree and Lough Allen because Ardnacrusha provided a significant contribution to meeting the nation's electricity requirements during that period. By holding these lakes at a higher than natural level, by means of weirs, water accumulated during the wet winter months could be released during drier periods to maintain supply to the power station. Weirs already existed at Killaloe and Athlone to control lake levels in Lough Derg and Lough Ree respectively. Upon completion of Ardnacrusha, the weir at Athlone was modified and brought under ESB control, and a new weir built at the mouth of Lough Allen to further regulate water levels (the weir at Killaloe was removed, as Lough Derg's water level is now controlled by Parteen weir itself). In more recent decades Ardnacrusha's significance for electricity production has decreased, and water is no longer stored on the Shannon lakes for electricity generation.

Navigation

The scheme simplified navigation between Killaloe and Limerick, as watercraft need to traverse just one double lock at Ardnacrusha. The majority of the Killaloe canal was submerged under the new lake (the 'flooded section') south of Killaloe, allowing direct access to the head-race canal. The ESB is responsible for maintaining water levels for navigation throughout the Shannon to between predetermined limits, but they have the right to prioritise levels for electricity generation, should water shortages arise.

References

External links

Electricity Supply Board - background on establishment

{{River Shannon Buildings and structures in County Clare Hydroelectric power stations in the Republic of Ireland Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks River Shannon

Background

Construction

Electrifying Ireland

Environmental consequences

Effects on the bypassed river channel

Reduction in water flow

Navigation

Shannon Eel Management Programme

Effects upriver from the scheme

Flooding

Navigation

See also

References

External links